Debate contributions by Alice TEODORESCU MÅWE

Mr President, thank you very much. For almost three years, the EU has introduced 15 different packages of sanctions against Russia. That's good, but it doesn't matter how many sanctions we impose when they can be circumvented. whereas in recent years Russia has massively expanded its shadow fleet and is now deemed to be controlling hundreds of foreign-flagged vessels carrying Russian oil, in order to circumvent sanctions and finance its brutal war against Ukraine; These ships are often old and uninsured, and the risk of major oil spills is serious, not least in sensitive waters such as the Baltic Sea. The EU has so far imposed sanctions on only 79 ships, while the US recently imposed sanctions on 183. I propose that the EU impose sanctions on all Russian vessels suspected of being part of the Russian shadow fleet, while at the same time reviewing the possibility of seizing oil from these oil tankers if they deploy in a Member State. Finally, the EU and its Member States must exert both economic and diplomatic pressure on the co-runners of states that enable the existence of the Russian shadow fleet. If Ukraine is to win the war, we must strike with all means against the Russian shadow fleet.

Mr President, thank you very much. The United States has been and will continue to be an important ally and trading partner of Europe. It is therefore of great importance that we maintain good relations based on our common interests, not least at a time when the Axis powers of evil are trying to divide us. However, from a geopolitical perspective, rightly described as the most serious since the Second World War, Europe needs to realise that no lasting relationship can be based solely on the goodwill of one party. The US administration is not wrong to say that Europe has been freeriding for far too long. In plain language, this means that our most important investment in the transatlantic relationship is that in ourselves. We must tear down the regulatory burden on European business while arming ourselves militarily. And for those of us who believe in free trade, the lesson is to open more doors to increased trade with strategic partners. It is through reduced vulnerability and a stronger economy that Europe can become a better ally of the United States, in defence of the rules-based international order, while at the same time being better placed to meet the challenges of the outside world.

Madam President, thank you very much. Everyone professes freedom of expression in theory, but the majority with the complaint that they themselves as good, of course, have a duty to protect society from dangerous statements from the bad. As long as we are stuck in this corrupt, but effective way of thinking, our free society will not be able to benefit from the merits of freedom of expression, while underestimating that it is reality that influences people's political choices. For anyone who restricts freedom of expression in order to strengthen democracy undermines it, while anyone who dares to strengthen freedom of expression, which always aims to protect the deviant, also strengthens democracy. Therefore, no EU legislation should be enacted or used to stifle political dissidents. Freedom of expression as a principle does not give us an exact template for how best to deal with the trolling of bitter desk warriors or the disinformation of hostile states. On the other hand, it provides us with our most important tool, and that is the free exchange of views. Europe's freedom of expression must be the cornerstone and guideline for the interpretation and application of modern legislation such as the Digital Services Act. Especially when there are plenty of short-term opportunistic arguments to the contrary.

Yes, the point here is that this is a conflict with long roots, and it gets worse every time Israel is forced to negotiate with all sorts of terrorists. What we are seeing is a conflict that will not be able to end as long as the other side does not recognize Israel's right to exist. That is the basis of a two-state solution. As long as the Palestinians choose a regime that uses them as civilian shields and that uses Israelis as hostages, there will be no peace. If you want peace, you oppose Hamas.

Mr President, thank you very much. Yes, the masks have fallen by the so-called freedom fighters, who, along with many of those taken for innocent civilians like hyenas, surrounded the young women who yesterday were taken out of Hamas violence; by the Red Cross and other so-called human rights organisations who did not lift a finger for the innocent hostages, and by those who talk about a two-state solution while welcoming the release of terrorists from Israeli prisons. The masks have fallen on Western invertebrate politicians, activist journalists and corrupt judicial institutions forcing Israel to make a deal with the devil, when the pressure should have been on Hamas to release the hostages immediately – otherwise... By turning the victims into perpetrators, the limits of what can be accepted have been radically shifted. When nothing is sacred anymore, when you take a nine-month-old baby hostage, and more people are outraged by Israel's defense than by Hamas's sadism, then the main thing has been made secondary, and all barbarism in the future has been allowed. The return of the hostages is a great victory, but we cannot be satisfied with almost extinguishing the fire. Because by 1945, we would hardly have accepted Hitler’s promises of liberation of a few Jews from Auschwitz – some ash – and the parallel release of thousands of prisoners of war in the hope that the Nazis would miraculously be converted. Hamas, as an idea and organisation, must be eliminated, and the question is whether we are capable of harshly fighting now that the masked monsters have been unmasked, stomping on a Red Cross ambulance and thus on our Western values.

Mr President, I would like to thank you. In just two months, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been going on for three years. But the war began back in 2014 when Russia illegally annexed Crimea. During this decade, Russia has systematically violated the human rights of opposition figures and forcibly relocated thousands of Ukrainian children to so-called re-education and adoption facilities. A report from last year identified at least 43 places working on so-called political re-education of Ukrainian children. If you add the executions, the rapes and the merciless bombing of civilian targets, the image emerges of an enemy who shuns no means in the fight against the current rules-based world order. Many in the West relativized both the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea in 2014. And a few more believe that the West should at all costs avoid escalation out of fear of Putin's response. I think just the opposite. For the rest of the world, including the EU, had acted resolutely against Russia already in 2008, or for that matter in 2014, when Russia acted in violation of international law with the aim of expanding its territory, the full-scale invasion in 2022 could have been prevented. We betrayed the Georgians and Ukrainians then and that mistake must not be repeated again. Russia must immediately and unconditionally surrender, return occupied land, release all children and political prisoners, and compensate the victims. These demands we need to be prepared to back up in action. The fact that Putin, who understands nothing but brute force, continues to fight is due to the fact that our response so far has not been sufficiently deterrent. The consequences of our awkwardness will be felt within another ten years.

Madam President, I would like to thank you for your Historical revisionism is a Russian specialty. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has systematically rewritten the history books with the aim of glorifying alleged victories and erasing actual defeats. According to the homemade lie, Russia is a great country characterized by its superiority. The fabricated claims that Russia and Ukraine are the same country, populated by the same people, sharing the same fate, are used to deny Ukrainians their language, culture and identity. Putin, therefore, justifies a wrong war with wrong facts. For Ukrainians, it is not just about surviving the day, but about being given the conditions to live as free Europeans tomorrow. The EU must help Ukraine to defeat Russia and it is therefore crucial that we support Ukraine with what it demands, not least long-range weapons. We must make Putin understand that he will never win, that freedom wins over oppression. Only then will he back down. Because if Ukraine falls, Russian aggression will continue westwards – and we are next.

Mr President, I would like to thank you. Iran’s Ayatollahs not only hate Jews and homosexuals – they also hate women. To be a woman in the stronghold of Islamism is to lack basic human rights, it is to be relegated to a life in the man's shadow and to fight for equal rights with life as a contribution. For the sake of women and the stability of the region, the EU needs to terrorise the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), impose broader and tougher sanctions on the Iranian mullahs – including on Supreme Leader Khamenei – and isolate Iran diplomatically, which means, among other things, that high-level EU representatives refrain from attending any Iranian inaugurations, as has been the case with Enrique Mora, for example. In order for the region to regain its stability, the mullahs need to fall. For the sake of women and for the sake of the entire Middle East.

Madam President, I would like to thank you for your Europe's security is threatened both from the outside and from the inside. We must now be able to assist both Ukraine and Israel, while at the same time dealing with organised crime, which threatens the security and thus the freedom of our citizens. Today, 70% of criminal gangs in the EU operate in at least three Member States, illustrating the need for intensified cross-border cooperation. We need to strengthen Europol with resources, an increased exchange of databases and criminal records, as well as intensified judicial cooperation with third countries and with EU candidate countries. Europe, and not least Sweden, needs to prioritise freedom for well-behaved and law-abiding citizens now. Those who pay for EU cooperation should at least be able to obtain the highest possible level of security in return.

Mr President, I would like to thank you. I'm not Jewish, the man screamed in the hope that the magic words would make him immune to the violence. But they beat him anyway. And no, they didn't ask about his view of Israel's war. Because the war is just a pretext for hatred of the Jews. The title of today's debate should therefore have been the unacceptable anti-Semitism in Europe and its latest manifestation of violence, the pogrom in Amsterdam. For that is the correct name for the planned Jewish hunt, which the perpetrators themselves called the attacks. Without the left's support and legitimization of the global intifada, we would not have been forced to relive anti-Semitism of the kind that has been banned in our streets and squares since the Holocaust. To those who play down the seriousness, who again blame the Jews, I have a suggestion. Put on a kippa in any western European city and take a walk in the neighborhoods of the intolerant. Endure the threats, hate and violence. Then consider whether this is the Europe you want to hand over to your children. The fate of Europe's Jews and, by extension, of all those who want to live in peace and freedom is determined by how we act now. So let the pictures from Amsterdam be a reminder that once again we are faced with the choice between civilization and barbarism.

I'm trying to answer your question. You don't seem interested in an answer because you don't care about peace. You do not put pressure on the party that denies Israel its existence in its statutes. That is the essence of the problem. Do you want peace in the Middle East? Ensure that a democratic force is put in place in Palestine, so that there is someone to negotiate with.

First, we do not know how many of the 40,000 are terrorists and how many are civilians because Hamas deliberately does not separate them. And secondly, it is Hamas that is responsible for the suffering of civilians in Gaza, because it is Hamas that broke the ceasefire that was in place on 6 October. ...

Madam President, I would like to thank you for your Mr. Borell. We need to address the question of whether war can bring peace. History teaches us that sometimes it is necessary. The war going on in the Middle East is only wanted by Iran and its proxy armies, which from seven sides surround the only democracy in the region. Hamas, Hezbollah and the other like-minded people's air of life is terror, destruction and death. Since they were founded, their goal has been to destroy Israel. They are the antithesis to a two-state solution, which means that those who mourn Israel's attacks on the terrorists do not want any coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. After yesterday's debate, I have to ask you, Mr Borell and Mr Incir: Do you really mean that Israel's war of defence can be equated with terrorism by Hamas and Hezbollah? Don't you see the difference between victims and perpetrators? I do, and therefore I believe that the world's eyes need to be directed towards Tehran's epicentre, from where the state-funded terror originated. The EU must terrorise Hezbollah, terrorise the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and adopt Resolution 1701. In order for there to be peace in the Middle East, the mullahs must fall.

Madam President, I would like to thank you for your On 7 October 2023, the world changed. There is one before and one after the worst pogrom since the Holocaust. That Hamas would be capable of the most inhumane of abuses comes as hardly a surprise. But the fact that the West would be so full of anti-Semitic terror hugs and anxious politicians and journalists is all the more surprising. Over the past year, European Jews have had to witness how they have been made perpetrators as victims. They have been forced to hide their Jewish symbols, refrain from social contexts, accused of being child murderers, seen how the children's schools were surrounded by police officers, while the protesters in the propalestinian demonstrations were allowed to vomit their hatred without consequences. We Europeans have a special responsibility. We have a responsibility to be consistent. It is not enough to dutifully assert Israel’s right to defend itself – while questioning every such act. I demand the release of the hostages and the fight against all parts of the Iranian hydra. The struggle that Israel is waging is that of the entire Western world. It is a struggle for civilization that can distinguish good from evil and victims from perpetrators.

Madam President, I would like to thank you for your As a new parliamentarian, I am surprised and angry at the anxiety I have encountered among elected representatives here. Today is the 365th of October, and we remember the worst pogrom since the Holocaust. More than a hundred innocent people, including several young children, are still being held hostage in Gaza, and Parliament has still not adopted a single resolution dealing solely with hostages. Why was it impossible to have a resolution on the attack this session? Why is it impossible to discuss the withdrawal of aid to an organisation that is repeatedly found to be linked to Hamas, or to label Hezbollah as a whole as a terrorist? I am ashamed of the vacillation of the European Parliament. This struggle that Israel is waging is that of the entire Western world; a struggle for a civilization that can distinguish good from evil, victims from perpetrators. That Hamas would be capable of the most inhumane of abuses comes as hardly a surprise. But the fact that the West would be full of anti-Semitic terror hugs and anxious politicians is all the more surprising. The verdict of history will be harsh.

Madam President, I would like to thank you for your If we were to play with the idea that, thanks to Ukraine's sustained defence of its country and thus of Europe, we are still in the 1938 scenario, what do we and our allies need to do to prevent us from being transferred to 1939? Have we really realised the consequences for the Ukrainian people, for every small country in the vicinity of the Russian bear, for the security order that has been in place since the Second World War, if Ukraine is not given the opportunity to win the war? Today, it became known that Putin for the third time wants to expand the army with another 180,000 people. We are heading for another winter in a war that we all say we want Ukraine to win, while some countries with their restrictions are effectively forcing Ukrainians to fight with one arm tied behind them. I do not think that everyone, even in this House, has really realised that the price paid by the Ukrainians to regain their freedom and security may also have to be paid by us. How prepared are we really for that? We need each and every one of us, at all levels, to ask ourselves whether Russia is continuing its war into Europe, knowing full well that we will never use NATO's full strength first, which in itself is a signal that hardly seems deterrent. What do we need to have built up over the next five years to have the capacity to respond to such aggression?

Mr President, I would like to thank you. Many of us have wondered how the Holocaust happened. After October 7th, we'll know. The silence of many about the rapes, hostages and hate attacks against Jews. I have met Jewish mothers who feel guilty for the legacy they passed on and young people who asked Holocaust survivors about their future in Europe. If we do not want Europe's synagogues to be empty in 30 years' time as a museum of the Jewish life that existed, we need clear language. Today's anti-Semitism with its roots in the Middle East does not march in high boots. Instead, it camouflages its hatred with contemporary politically correct language about liberation and tolerance. The Jew was the root of everything. Today it is Israel, for the Jew is the new Israel, but anti-Semitism is the same. Anti-Semitism is stigmatizing. For this, we Europeans have a special responsibility. I expect the European Commission to urgently update the current anti-Semitism strategy when it fails. Never again is now.